INDIAN SOCIETY: TRIBAL, RURAL Traian society has been broadly divided into tribal, ural and urban societies on ‘the basis oftheir geographical surroundings and socio-cultural characteristics. Tribals livein relative isolation marked with distinct culture, language and religion. Inthe contemporary world, they are considered to be socio-economically backward. ‘Onthe other hand, rural societies are village societies, which are mainly based on caste, attachment to the past, as well as having agricultural economy. Urban society is based on non-agricultural occupations lke the industries and the service sector. Ho\ kinds of societies and we can not put them into watertight compartments. Bos ‘After reading this lesson, you will beable to: AND URBAN ‘there has been a continuous interaction between these three explain the characteristics of wibal society; analyse changesamong tribal societies; ‘identify the tribal problems and know about the development measures being. caried out for them; recognise the characteristics of village societies; explain changes taking place in village communities; explain the meaning and characteristics of urban society; and analyse the linkages between rural and urban societies. SOCIOLOGY. ES Se Eeeeete Sree eeeA tribe can be defined as a community living in hilly forest or well demarcated areas having its own culture, religion, language, and strong ethnic identity. Anthropologists have explained tribe as a social group with territorial affiliation, endogamous in nature; with no specialization of functions, ruled by tribal chiefs, hereditary or otherwise, united in language or dialect, recognizing social distance ‘With other tribes or casts, following tribal tradition, beliefs and customs, conscious 26.1.1 Characteristics of Tribal Society From the above definition, we may lis the following characteristics of tribal society. }) They have usually a well-demarcated geographical territory, i) Generally they live in forests orhilly areas. ii) Their temitory is relatively isolated or serni-isolated compared to other social group iv) They have theirown culture, folklore, cosmology and belief system. ¥) Economically they are self-sufficient, ic. their economy is based on subsistence level where there iso concept of surplus. They cling to primitive technology. They lack monetary economy. Their economy is dependenton barter exchange. ¥) They are more interested in earning their todays need and do not bother vi) They have their own language; generally donothaveany script. [They have their own political system, i-c. both stateless and state, Earlier | they had stateless system, i without any tribal chief. They manage their law and order system through family and kinship ties. Later on, came the state system, when tribals nominated orelected their own chiefs, Today, ofcourse this autonomy has been lost and they have become part of the local 'x) Tribal societies are knovmas simple societies because their social relationships are primarily based on family and kinship ties. Besides they donot have any ‘igid social stratification. They have their own religion, ie. having their own deities( gods and goddesses) and belief system. Their forms of religion areknown.as animism (worshipping the soul or ancestors), animatism (worshipping any non-living body like stone or wood), totemism (worshipping a tree or any animal as the = socrotoayNana natn) founding ancestor), and naturism (worshipping objects of nature like river, stream, sun moon, forest, et.). x) _Theyhave a sense of belongingness to their own community, they feel that they are the sons ofthe soil and hence they have a strong ethnic identity. Boeeses Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the brackets. @ Tribal communities livemostly in areas (hilly, urban, initio) @ Economy of the tribals is found at. level (advanced, developing, pintive. Gi Tribals have religion (their own, Hindu, Christian), (i) Tribal society have form of inequality (intensive, little, moderate) 26.1.2 Distribution of Tribal Communities in India ‘There are about 461 tribes found in India distributed throughout the country. Their population isabout 8.1 crores according to the census 2001 of India (constituting 108.1% of total population). Their distributions can be broadly divided into the following five regions. Region Major Tribes North East, Sikkimand Himalayas Naga, Mizo, Adi, Lepcha, Gaddi, Khasi, Garo, Jaintia, Raji, Bhotia, : That Westem ‘Scheria, Bhi, Gitisia, Rebari, Dang, Mina, Worti Central Munda, Oraon, Santhal, Gond, Ho, ‘Chenchu, Bhumnij, Bithor, Kondh, : Saora, Poroja South Inula, Toda, Badaga, Paliyan, CCholanaicken Island Communities Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, ‘Table 26.1: Distribution of Tribes SocionocyPPEReen eter hennt! Population-wise Gonds are found highest in number (about 8 lakhs), followed by Bhils (about 7.5 lakhs), Santhal (about 5 lakhs), Mina (about 2.2 lakhs) nd Oraon (about 2 lakhs). The lowest number among them are the Jarawa (about 50), ‘Onges (about 100), Andamanesc (about 150), and Arandan (about 250). 26.1.3 Linguistic Classification Among Tribes in India ‘Most ofthe tribal communities speak non-Aryan language which are divided into four linguistic families: Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Chinese, Dravidian and Indo- European. Linguistic Family Major Tribal Languages Khasi, Nicobari, Santhali, Ho, Mundari Bhotia, Lepcha, Abor, Miri, Dafla, Garo, Naga, Lasts Dravidian Korwa, Badaga, Toda, Kota, Kui (by Kondh), Gondi, Maler, Oraon Indo-European Hajong, Bhili ‘Table 26.2: Linguistic Distribution of Tribes Boe Write shortanswers: @ Name five majortribes of India? (@ Name one major tribe who speaks the dravidian language. i) Where are the Onges found? (iv) Name three tribes of Westem region. 26.1.4 Tribal Soci: Structure and Stratification Most of the tribes are patrilineal and patriarchal in nature, like the Kondhs of Orissa, Santhals of West Bengal and Bihar, Bhils of Madhya Pradesh. Patriliny = soctosocymeans inheritance of property, authority, residence, and line of descentis passed from the father to the son. In these societies male dominance is found. However, extreme patriliny is not found among them today. Compared with the non-tribal conimunities in India, the tribals have greater equality among the sexes. In the. absence of industrial economy and formal structure, the tribal social stracture is based on kinship groups like clans lineages and families. Some tribal communities are matriarchal, also such as Garo and Khasi of Meghalaya. Initially, social stratification was notmerked among them. There used to be broadly two divisions: the ruling clansand others. Economically they are termed asan egalitarian society. Later on due to contact with outsiders and non-tribals some forms of inequality are apparently noticed. q 26.1.5 Tribal Problems Certain types of tribal problems emerged with their contact with outsiders. Before the Muslim rule, the tribals lived fairy inisolation. During Muslimrule the process: ‘ofrevenve collection started. However, the Muslim rulers did not interfere with, the tribal customs and traditions. Exploitative contact started during the British; rule. This was found mainly because of three reasons: (@) The Britishers wanted to rule over the tribals. (b) They wanted to syphon off resources from tribal areas, which were rich in mineral resources. (©) They wanted to preach Christianity under the pretext of rationality. Cultural contact came into being because of the following reasons: (@ Existence of mineral resources inthe tribal areas (&) Entry ofadministrators and missionaries into tribal areas. (©) Entry of specialists like medicine man, agentsand vendors into the tribal areas. (@ Development of transport and communication in the tribal areas, which facilitated the entry of outsiders. (© Displacement of tribal population from their traditional habitat due to construction of industries and hydro- electricity and irrigation projects. Inthis manner most ofthe tribal problems have emerged due to cultural contact, ‘There are several tribal problems, which areas follows: ‘a, Land alienation caused due to the introduction of monetary economy. For cevery consumption need, the tribals needed money, but didnot have any souroe ofcaming. They mortgaged land or soldit offland. Besides, outsiders exploited socrovos Scene! |them and grabbed away their land. Further industrialisation also resulted into acquisition of land by the state, Various State governments have passed several acts o abolish transferor sale of tribal land to non-tritals. Indebtedness cropped in duc to lack of adequate sources of income. Private moneylenders (like mahajan or sahukar) are readily available in tribal areas. ‘They provided personal loan on heavy raty of interest. The consumption ‘marriage and fine for any deviant behaviour. All these require money, Hence they goto the moneylender. In this manner they are heavily in debt. Effective ‘measures have been taken by various State governments to curb the entry of ‘sahukars into the tribal areas and arrangements have been made to secure loans on nominal rate of interest from the banks and co-operative societies. Bonded labour isa serious problem, which came in due to rampant poverty ‘and lack of stable income. In fact, land alienation, indebtedness; bonded labour and poverty are inter-related problems. Lack of money jeads to taking loan from money lender by mortgaging land. ‘The tribal community is unable to repay, hence serves as a bonded labourer. Shifting cultivation among tribal isa problem since it involves large-scale deforestation. Shifting cultivation s know by various names such as Swidden {lash and bum)cultivation, Jiumt (in the North East Tribes), Khallu (among. Maler of Bihar), and Podu (among Khonds and Parajas of Orissa). Shifting cultivation involves clearing ofa plot, usualy in hilly orterrace area, ‘.e. cutting plants & shrubs and then broadcasting (sprinkling) seeds (usually cof arhar:maize,bajm and barbat (beans). Itdoes not involve plough cultivation. ‘The areais cultivated for one or two years and then is left hallow for five to seven years to allow the vegetatiuon to grow densely and to repeat the cycle literacy among tribals is a major hindrance towards their development. On account of inaccessible habitat among tribals, education has not spread fastamong them. The school timings usually clash with the timings of economic «and agricultural operations. However, several programmes have been launched 10 provide educational access by establishing a primary school within a radius of one kilometer. Problem of health and nutrition among the tribals has been found mainly duc to lack of proper medical and sanitary facilites and poverty. Their practice of indigenous medicine and magical practices for treatments have been very "good inthe past. But today things have changed considerably. Disease range ‘between diarrhea, jaundice, small pox, malaria, flaria to AIDS, heart ailments and hypertension etc. They require proper treatment in well-equipped hospitals socioLocyCee ent) i 6 dispensaries. Efforts are being made to establish primary health centres in every village. Bomes Write short answers: © Whatis the chief cause of land alienation among tribes? @ What sshifting cultivation? (i) Why the tribals have less interestin formal education? (Gv) What isthe cause of bonded labour among the tribals? Xe tany Rural society means society that lives in village, and is dependent on natural environment. Rural economy rests predominantly on agriculture and allied activities. ‘These societies have a low density of population, intimate group relationships and have oral traditions. Rural societies are rich in culture and tradition. However, from the contemporary point of view, they are considered to be socio-economically less developed, Therefore, several development activities have been undertaken inour country to improve their socio-economic conditions. 26.2.1 Characteristics of Rural Societies The village comrmunity has the following characteristic. @ Agriculture's the predominant occupation among them. It isnot the only source of income but also the way of life forthe villagers. (The village community is small insize, It means they live in small geographical areas with lower density of population as compared tothe towns. Gi) They have primary group behaviour, i. face-to-face relationship is found among the membersof the village. (Gv) Their social structure is based on kinship and family relationships. Here the role of lineage (Vansh) is very important. (¥) Mostly they live in joint family. A joint family isa group of people who live ‘under one roof, eat food cooked at one hearth, have joint property, participate in common worship and are linked to each other through kinship ties. The joint family has a greater generation bondage than the nuclear family. TOLOGYPRRURC Tanah kenny (i) They are more conservative and tradition oriented towards the performance ofritualsas well as belicfin deities. (si) Group feeling and mutual cooperation is more evident among them. They have a brotherhood feeling. They co-operate with each other in times of ae (Gill) Their culture isalso knownas folk culture, ie. consisting of customs, rituals and norms, etc. which are unwritten, but orally transmitted and leamed. Since they have a common socio-economic background, they do not have differences in ideology towards life. Hence they are homogenous in nature. (@%) Traditionally, their economy is based on agriculture having primitive technology and mono-cropping pattem. It was less productive. Lack of proper marketing facilities and introduction of monetary economy has resulted in poverty. Further, decline in cottage industries has pushed them to migrate to iat (8) Village Indias largely based on caste system, which hasa hierarchical (castes are ranked according to their purty and pollution, their religious customs and ‘practices and the nature of their occupation) base. For example, Brahmins ae ranked as highest one because they do the purest occupation of performing rituals and teaching, whereas, shudras is ranked lowest because of his impure ‘occupation of working as scavengers .They follow the above hierarchical system intensely. (xi) Modern way of living and thinking (based on achievement of the individual and their rational thinking) is lacking in rural society. They still follow the asctiptive model of life, hence their mobility is restricted. (xi) Any deviant behaviour is dealt with strictness inthe rural areas. (ci) Since modem technology has not gained firm ground in rural areas, people are still following the age-old methods of cultivation as well as solving the related day-to-day problems. Itinvolves hard work throughout the day as it isa labour intensive occupation. (sv) They have a relatively self-sufficient economy particularly in terms of production and consumption. (av) They havea static economy, since they lack moder technology, modesof investment and a market economy. (xvi) They cling to conservative and traditional style of living: They have a song tradition and isknown as the litle tradition. Their attachment tothe past is ‘strong. SOCIOLOGYPinta nn arty Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the brackets: @ Ruralarcasare dominated by ‘occupation (agricultural, industrial, professional), G@ Villages have density of population (higher, lower, moderate). i) Villageeconomyis____ (developed, ess developed, primitive). (iv) Indian villages have system (caste, clas, estate) 26.2.2 The Indian Village Community: As a Social Unit British administrators held that village communities in India ae ike lithe republics. Itmeans they have every thing they want within themselves, and they are not dependent on outsiders for their existence. But this has been proved to beamyth by Indian sociologists after the scientific study of Indian villages. Village in India is an integrated unit. There have been inter-connections and inter-dependence between villages on socio-economic and religious terms since ages. A study of Haryana village indicated that at least 300 villages are linked through marriage ties. Several consumption items like salt, edible ol, various tools cloth and jewellery ‘were not produced in every village. All types of services were not available in every village. Besides, for political purposes villages were always apart of some kingdom feudal Jords and used to pay revenue to the king. Further, variouscultural and the pilgrim ‘centres have attracted people to travel throughout the country. For example, the Char Dham coneept of Hindus for attainment of Moksha by people has been popular. Besides, trade practices have linked the villages with world. Therefore, ‘we cannot say that villages are in isolation, but they were always a part of the larger society. 26.2.3. Changes in Rural Society Afterindependence, the community development programme was tartedin 1952. Itmeantan all round development of village communities. The involvement and participation of community was the main aim. Later on in 1959 Panchayati Raj (Local Self Govt.) was started. Both the programmes are running successfully ‘eventoday. However, Integrated Rural Development Programme has replaced the Community Development Programme in 1979, ‘The rural and urban societies have a continuous interaction among them. The [MODULE - IV indian Societyenn villager visits the urban areas and comes into contact with the urban people. Some urban culture enters into the villages. Gradually some sense of heterogeneity ‘becomes imminentin the rural areas by urban influence. Iti said that Indian cities have retained some ofthe rural characteristics. Primary food and raw material are supplied by the villages to the towns, hence both have relationship of aitinter- dependence . Thusitis termed as rural urban continuum (continuous interaction). Construction of roads and transportation have brought about lot of social and ‘cconomic changese.g. Caste System is weakening. Now, thereis more mobility and itis becoming cash market from barter system ete. RUE eO oa ns ‘Urban society includes the towns, cities and metros with a specific way of life. An urban society can be defined as an area having higher density of population, people ‘engaging mostly in occupations other than agriculture and domestication of animals, having a distinct ecology and culture different from that of the large society's culture, 26.3.1 Characteristics of Urban Society ‘Urban societies have the following characteristics; a. Thecitiesand towns have a higher density of population than the rural areas, ’. Cultural heterogeneity is found inthe urban areas because people from various areas having different cultures migrate tothe towns in scarch of employment, ‘education and medical and health care. ¢. Cities have a distinct environment that is not‘natural but a man made environment. 4. The occupation of the urban areas is mainly non-agricultural, i.c. based om. ‘manufacturing, trade & commerce, professional and governance, ec. ¢. Inurban areas more social mobility is found in the sense people gradually adapt to class structure (lower, middle or upper class based on economic itera). £ Formal social control is found in the urban areas in the form of cours, police and other administrative bodies, g, Inurban areas interaction among people is based on secondary contact and ‘not primary contact. It means face-to-face and individual to individual interaction isnot possible in the urban areas. People inthe cities have an urban way oflife. Which means they have formalee er interaction, impersonal behaviour, non-kinship relationships, cultural exhibitionism, passing leisure time in clubs, parks, restaurants, cinema halls or markets. i. Theurbaneconomic organisationis based on market and monetary economy. i. Civic facilities like roads, electricity, water, communication, park, hotels and cinemas, etc. are foundin urban areas. k, Anonymity isa feature of urban societies. Itmeans people do not know each other in the city as in the villages. Bosom Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the brackets: © Urban societies have mostly ___ occupation (agricultural, priestly, non- agricultural). @ is the important feature of the urban societies (personal contact, anonymity, kinship). Gi) Urban societieshave___ economy (monetary, agricultural, barter) iy) Inurban areas people have cultural (homogencity, heterogeneity, plurals ism). | 26.3.2 India’s Urban Communities In India the urban area has the following Characteristics: 2. Andrea hiving ome urban administrative unit ikea Municipality, Metropolitan ‘Council, Notified Area Council or Cantonment Board, etc. b. Anareabaving more than 10000 population. ¢. °75%of population engaging in non-agricultural occupation, 4. Should have a density of 1000 persons per sq. mile. ‘¢. Having some urban amenities like an industrial area a large housing settlement, having centre of entertainment and tourist importance or having some civic - ‘Onthe basis of population, India has the following types of cities:Nomenclature Population Metro 10,00,000+ Class! City 1,00,000+ Class I Town 50,000+ Class III Town 20,000+ ClassIV Town 10,000+ ‘Table 263: Types of cities in india 26.3.3 Urban Social Problems ‘Urban society has several social problems such as congestion of population, slums, crime, and acute shortage of resources and facilities (such as water, electricity). Certain problems emerge from anonymity incites, where personal relation and primary group have broken down. It causes tremendous mental pressure and tension. Thatis why; psychological ailments are numerous in cities. Because of large migration to cities unemployment is found in large number in the urban areas. This happens due to push and pull factors. This causes a lotof frustration among the people. Push factor means that lack of employment in the villages pushes the villagers to the towns in search of jobs. Pull factor means the relatives inthe town invite their close people and try to give them jobs. Besides, the entertainment aspect of urban life attracts or pulls the people to the towns. ‘The migrants in the cities do nothave a respectable place to stay. They generally settle down as clusters on the outskirts ofthe cities. These clusters grow into slums. Their conditions detoriate from bad to worse with the passage of time. ‘There is ahigh incidence of crime in the cities. It is mainly found because of unemployment, and frustration among the youth and also due tothe large density ‘of population. Eon ‘Write short answers. @ | Whatis the minimum population of ametro? TOLOGYIEUen eet ean) @_Why some people in urban areas have mental problems? (i) Whats push factor of migration? (v) What is the cause of unemployment in urban areas? WHAT YOU HAV ‘* _Inthis esson you have lear about the tribal, rural and urban communities of India, particularly in terms of their co-existence, These three societies are found in India with perfect cohesion, interdependence and cooperation. © The tribal and rural societies are relatively economically backward than the ae ‘© However, through various economic development programmes their socio- economic status is being improved upon. © These societies have distinct cuture with anatural environment. ‘© People from urban areas usually miss the simplicity and non-polluting environment of the rural areas. ‘* Thecities of india have attracted people from through out the country as well as abroad bycause of the distinctive civilization. + However, because ofthe large density of population and heavy migration from rural areas, some problems like unemployment and growing slums have ‘occurred inthe cities. Ales . Why tribal societies are called simple societies? Describe the major trial problems in India. ‘What are the main criteria of an urban area in India? |. Describe briefly the changes that have taken place in rural society after independence. aepeUESTIONS ily @ Backward Theirown @) Lite Andaman Island Mina, Rebari, Dang ‘Monetary economy (Cultivating without plough ina terrace by clearing the plot Becaetesyleband ime isnt acconding tothe euureand Lack ofmoney agricultural Lower 10,00,000_ Breaking down of primary group behaviour. Poverty in villages pushes one'to town in search of employment. Heavy population.